The Italian magazine Best Movie offers their readers a special article featuring The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in this year’s November issue. The cover shows some of the main characters of the upcoming movie: Bilbo, Thorin Oakenshield, Legolas, Tauriel, and Bard the Bowman.

The article talks about the realization of the trilogy and showcases short interviews with the actors.

Martin Freeman: […] “When I was offered the role of Bilbo, as I wanted it, I hesitated, it’s true: I was afraid of a commitment for so long, and also the distance … New Zealand is on the other side of the world! Perhaps that’s why Peter [Jackson] thought I was like Bilbo, fearful to go on an adventure. But I believe that he chose me because he needed someone who was vulnerable and funny at the same time.”

Richard Armitage: [Answering the question: Why did Peter Jackson choose you for the role of Thorin Oakenshield?] “I don’t know, and I asked him thousand times about it. It’s almost impossible talking to Peter about your character until he points the camera on your face. And then he asks you to do a thousand different things. I believe that I will find an answer only when I have watched all three films. This is not a franchise, it is a single story: if it took 20 films to tell it, I wouldn’t have enough to play Thorin in all 20.”

Luke Evans: “I made the first audition 18 months before receiving the second call. I was going to go to New Orleans for another movie, I had already made ​​a commitment and I had to say no: the most terrifying refusal of my career! Thankfully, Peter Jackson contented himself with a recorded audition, in Welsh accent. For this reason, the inhabitants of Dale all speak in Welsh, now!”

Lee Pace: [To playing an Elf] “In addition to speaking elvish, there is also a kind of body language to communicate their merger with nature. That’s why you should try to move like you were in the water. Thranduil can perceive whatever happens in the forest, he’s a great fighter, but he’s also like a matador: he doesn’t want only to kill the bull, he wants to make him suffer.”

Author: Alice Greenleaf
Staff Reporter of Middle-earth News. Alice discovered Tolkien’s world when she was 12 years old and watched The Fellowship of the Ring for the first time. It was love at the first sight. When not at her desk looking for something Middle-earth related or studying, you'll probably find her whispering spells, just to be prepared when she'll receive her Hogwarts Acceptance Letter.